Hame and trace connection.



No. 721,796. N I I PATENTED MAR. a, 1903.

I A. LKGREEN.

HAME AND TRACE CONNECTION.

APPLICATION I'ILBD SEPT. 16, 1901.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERTL. GREEN, OF BUFORD, GEORGIA.

HAME AND TRACE CONNECTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent NO, 721,796, dated March 3,1903.

Application filed September 16, 1901. Serial No. 75,562. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT L. GREEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Buford, in the county of Gwinnett and State of Georgia, haveinvented a new and useful Hame and specification.

This invention relates to hame and traceconnections, and particularly toa clip and draft-eye construction, the purpose of which is to obviateand completely prevent wear on the collar by the clip through the mediumof guard means provided in connection with the draft'eye, which willshield the collar, and thereby prolong the life of the collar withoutdetracting in the least from the necessary durability of the connectionor obstructing an easy assemblage of the trace-clip and drafteye.

The invention consists in the construction and arrangement of theseveral parts, which will be more fully hereinafter described andclaimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a traceand clip and draft-eye embodying the features of the invention. Fig. 2shows detail perspective views of the clip and draft-eye. Fig. 3 is atop plan view of the devices shown by Fig. 1, with a portion of thecollar in dotted lines.

Similar characters of reference are employed to indicate correspondingparts in the several views.

The numeral 1 designates a trace of any preferred form and composed ofconnected plies and having a clip 2 secured to the front end thereof.The clip 2 is formed with a pair of flat shanks 3, which are insertedbetween the plies and secured by suitable rivets. From the front ends ofthe shanks the metal is continued in round form and looped or doubled toprovide a clip-eye 4, which is given a slight torsional twist to disposethe shanks in apposition and also to project one portion of the eye 4inwardly to a greater extent than the remaining portion, as clearlyshown by Fig. 3, to produce a striking or bearing projectionfi and toestablish anentrance-throat to the clip-eye. The eye 4 is arrangedvertically and movably engages a draft-eye 6, suitably secured to thehame a and projecting rear- Wardly from the latter, as usual. The saiddraft-eye comprises a body member 7 in the form of a plate, which islongitudinally curved and has a horizontally-disposed rib 8 at thecenter thereof on the outer side, the said rib widening toward the rearextremity thereof. By locating the rib 8 at the center of the bodymember guard-flanges 9 are produced above and below the said rib. Therear terminal 11 of the rib 8 is curved, so that the clip-eye 4 mayeasily ride or move thereover in an outward direction, and extendingthrough the rear enlarged extremity of the said rib is a keyhole-slot 12for convenience in assembling the clip 2 in relation to the draft-eye.

In the assemblage of the clip and draft-eye the one shank 3 is pusheddownwardly through the slot 12, the clip being vertically positionedduring such operation and so maintained until the eye 4 is reached, whenthe clip will be gradually turned to a horizontal position to bring thesaid eye 4 fully in the circular portion of the said keyhole-slot. Afterthe clip has been placed in engagement with the eye 6, as set forth, theshanks 3 are then secured to the front extremity of the trace 1, and itwill be impossible for the clip to become accidentally separated fromthe draft-eye, except in the event of breakage, which very rarely ifever occurs. It will also be seen that it is possible to separate theclip from the trace end and apply it to another trace in the event ofbreakage or injury to the trace to which it was first applied.

The draft-eye 6, when the hame carrying the same is applied to a collar,projects over a portion of the latter, as clearly shown by Fig.3, and inthe ordinary forms of clip and draft-eye the clip-eye is free to contactwith and rub against or wear the leather. of the collar and soon causethe latter to puncture or burst, so that the filling or stufling of thecollar-roll becomes exposed and the collar thereby seriously injured.The present construction obviates this wear on the collar by preventingthe clip-eye 4 from contacting with any portion of the collaradjacentthereto. This restraint on the clip-eye is due to the guard-flanges 9,and it will be seen in Fig. 3 that the inwardly-projecting portion ofthe clip-eye 4 will strike against the lower guardflange 9, and if theclip-eye swings in the slot 12, so as to bring the upper portion of thesaid clip-eye in wardly,said latter portion will contact with the upperguard-flange 9, and hence the entire clip-eye is held out of possibleengagement with the collar. The clipeye is free to move outwardly inrelation to the draft-eye; butthe longitudinal movement of the clip-eyein the slot 12 is very limited, and this restriction in movement willovercome any tendency of the clip-eye to draw nearer to the collar ortouch the latter. The guard features of the draft-eye are produced in asimple manner, and the body member or plate 7, as well as the rib 8, ismade strong enough to withstand wear and resist fracture. Various meansmay be employed for securing or attaching the draft-eye to the hame, andby the use of the improved device or connection a great saving in thewear and tear on a horse-collar will result. The inner side of thedraft-eye is smooth, and the portion of the collar contacting therewithor contiguous thereto will not become injured. It will also be seen thatthe trace-clip is free to swing inwardly and outwardly in a lateraldirection and also upwardly and downwardly, thus providing a universaljoint or connection, which will relieve the cooperating parts ofconsiderable strain.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is- 1. Adraft-eye comprising a body having its inner side curved to lie on theouter side of a harness-collar and, having a longitudinal rib on itsouter side, extending laterally therefrom, said rib having averticalslot, and said body having guard-flanges 9 above, below and extending inrear of the rib, in combination with a clip having an eye engaged withthe slot in the rib, said clip, when under draft stress, bearing againstthe outer sides of the flanges 9, and being by said flanges preventedfrom contacting with and wearing the collar, substantially as described.

2. A draft-eye comprising a body having a longitudinal rib on its outerside extending laterally therefrom, said rib having a vertical slot andsaid body having guard-flanges 9, above and below, and extending in rearof the rib, in combination with aclip having an eye engaged with theslot in the rib, said clip,

when under draft stress, bearing against the outer sides of the flanges9, and being by said flanges prevented from contacting with and wearingthe collar, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signaturein the presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT L. GREEN.

Witnesses:

JOHN M. DEATON, NOAH G. DEATON.

